


Rock You Like a Hurricane

by GloriaGilbertPatch



Category: The Mindy Project
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-08-01
Updated: 2015-08-01
Packaged: 2018-04-12 08:30:21
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,063
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4472423
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/GloriaGilbertPatch/pseuds/GloriaGilbertPatch
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Danny and Mindy and Hurricane Sandy.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Rock You Like a Hurricane

**Author's Note:**

> Major thanks to NurseTookers for the medical advice and Smapdi for the beta. Mwah!

In a way, she was almost weirdly grateful for the distraction. That felt horrible – people were _dying_ – but it was kind of true. St. Brendan’s was suddenly in crisis mode, running entirely off its backup generator and having taken on some of NYU’s patients (especially the ones on dialysis, and holy hell, _that_ was scary). And with no end in sight, all the garden-variety vaginal deliveries – which, as Danny Castellano had archly pointed out, were more than capable of killing both mother and baby if anything went even slightly wrong – were suddenly so low-priority that Mindy counted herself grateful she was at least afforded enough electricity not to be delivering babies in the dark.

So it sucked, really, but it kept her from thinking about Tom “Butthead” McDougall, and how he’d just suddenly decided his successful doctor live-in girlfriend was too old to make babies and that he should date the Serbian bagel girl instead, who was like 22 and not very smart and not even pretty ‘til Tom had fixed her teeth. And, honestly, anything was better than that. Especially since she hadn’t really had time to decorate her new apartment yet, so the place felt almost as utilitarian as the hospital. Although if Sandy hadn’t happened she could’ve decorated the apartment. Well, whatever. If she had to get dumped, and there had to be a huge natural disaster, at least work was busy, and at least she could experience a historical reenactment of obstetrics in the 1800s – when Female Hysteria was a disease. Luckily Danny complained about that enough that Mindy really didn’t have to.

Fucking Danny Castellano. She’d known him for years, of course, but hadn’t _worked_ with him more than occasionally in almost as many years, and somehow in the intervening time she’d managed to forget how obnoxious he could be. Or maybe he’d just gotten worse. But in this case, unfortunately, he _was_ justified and it _was_ a problem. No one had died on Mindy’s shift yet, and she was going to do her damnedest to keep it that way, but every delivery had her heart in her throat, and it was really annoying because she’d been delivering babies for _years_ and it shouldn’t be so scary anymore – but she’d signed on to be an obstetrician, not a labor doula, for a reason, and until the electricity came back this was going to be fucking terrifying.

It wasn't the number of patients that was the problem - it was that each woman had her heart set on a birth plan, and Mindy was the one who had to break it to them that _sorry, scrap that, and by the way, try not to think about those stories of women dying in childbirth_.

“You’re being dramatic,” offered one of the obstetrics nurses, which was weird because normally the nurses ignored Mindy’s monologues. This one must be new.

“Lots of women have died in childbirth, uh…Karen? Hi, Karen. Lots of women have died in childbirth, Karen.”

“I know that, Dr. Lahiri, but _you_ know if something goes wrong they’ll let you have an OR. It’s still a hospital. They don’t want any women to die, and they sure as hell don’t want to get sued. They just don’t want to deplete the generator on something you can probably do safely without it.”

“I get it, okay? And obviously other departments have it worse; it’s just…this sucks.” Karen nodded solemnly.

“Well, I’m not going to argue with you on that one,” she agreed. Mindy sighed.

“Thanks for the support. And wish me luck, it is now time for me to tell Mara Berne that she’s suddenly decided to have a natural childbirth, and it ain’t gonna be pretty.”

\--

And it wasn’t pretty, but Mindy was a pro, and at the end of it there was a healthy mom and a healthy baby and happily enough, no poop on Mindy’s gown. So it was with a certain amount of pride that she headed off towards the doctors’ lounge to grab a snack before heading home. In a rare act of thoughtfulness, someone at St. Brendan’s had unlocked the vending machine and laid its precious contents out on the table – score one for Sandy. Mindy helped herself to a bag of chips just as Danny Castellano walked in, looking pissed off about something – as usual. He nodded curtly in her direction.

“How’re you doing?” he asked, and the politeness didn’t even seem forced. She shrugged.

“Okay. My patient has a son and neither of them died. Counts for something, right?” Danny shrugged this time, grabbing some popcorn from the table.

“Sure,” he said. “Take a lesson from oncology and always appreciate a day with no deaths.” He was almost smiling now, and it made her feel unguarded, as if they were actually friends instead of two people who worked together and sometimes got along.

“I miss Tom,” she sighed as she sank into the couch.

“Why? He’s a dick,” Danny replied, coming over to join her.

“Yeah, and I miss it,” she noted wryly, cracking a smile. “I haven’t gotten laid in _weeks_ – and it used to be, like, almost every day. This is the worst.” He rolled his eyes, and Mindy, offended, smacked him lightly on the arm. “Don’t be dumb and sexist and pretend this isn’t a thing. Yeah, Danny, I like sex, and Tom, in addition to _being_ a huge dick, _has_ a huge dick, and I miss it.”

“Well, my condolences.” He sighed. “I’m really tired of not having any electricity.”

“I know, me too, if I have to deal with one more cranky woman who can’t get an epidural…” She chuckled humorlessly but Danny shook his head.

“I meant at my apartment. It’s dark and freezing and I’m getting really tired of it.”

Mindy shrugged. “I guess you could stay with me,” she offered halfheartedly. “I mean, if you’re okay with the fact that I have almost no furniture.”

“Do you have light after work? Heat, ever?”

“Yes and yes.”

“Then…okay. Thanks, Mindy.”

“You’re welcome,” she said, slightly awkwardly as she shifted on the couch. “Ugh. How late are you here tonight, anyway?” 

“Officially? Three more hours.“ Danny shrugged. “But honestly I’ll probably stay until I wear out. Dr. Fishbein had an emergency, so we’re a little short staffed.”

Mindy rolled her eyes. “I know that. But maybe don’t stay ‘til you’re worn out. I’m not sure your insurance can take the hit for you practicing without electricity when you’re falling asleep.”

“I’m a better doctor on no sleep than half of these morons are on eight hours,” he blustered, but Mindy offered only a raised eyebrow and a withering stare. Danny sighed in concession.

“Yeah, you’re probably right.”

“Of course I’m right.” She smiled at him, a tiny bit of affection seeping through. “Okay, I’m gonna take a nap, but come find me when you’re ready to get off, okay?”

“That’s what she said,” Danny offered with a proud smirk.

Mindy groaned.

“‘That’s what she said’? Is this 2010? Are you Steve Carell? …but I guess it was a pretty decent one,” she added, grinning reluctantly. Danny looked ridiculously pleased with himself, and Mindy rolled her eyes again.

“Don’t let it go to your head; you’re still lame,” she reminded him, curling up around a pillow as she prepared for her nap.

“All right, whatever, go to sleep,” he told her, still smirking. “I’ll see you in a bit.”

It was a little more than a bit, but much sooner than she expected, when Mindy awoke to the sound of Danny saying her name repeatedly, and with growing urgency.

“Mmmm…what, Danny? Is it time to go home already?” As she opened her eyes, though, Mindy registered the anxious look on her coworker’s face, and it woke her up quickly.

“Danny. What?”  
He swallowed hard. “Claire Baines is breech,” he told her, “and I can’t have an OR to do a c-section. Apparently I can’t even have a fetal heart monitor. Mindy, I can’t do it by myself.”

“Wait, Dr. I’m the Best Obstetrician in New York City can’t – “

“Mindy, please. I need you. You’ve always been good with breeches.”

“That sounds like something you’d say about the heroine in a historical romance novel, but okay.” She scrambled to her feet and Danny let out a long breath.

“So tell me about Claire Baines,” Mindy continued, as she pulled her hair into a bun and started to get herself ready to scrub in. “She’s your patient; I’ve never met her. How’s her pregnancy gone so far?”

\--

It was one of the most exhilarating deliveries of Mindy’s career, and certainly one she never wanted to repeat, but in the end Claire Baines was delivered safely of a healthy baby boy (named “Alexander,” or “Sandy,” which Mindy wasn’t sure about, but, whatever, not her kid) and both Dr. Castellano and Dr. Lahiri were proud and relieved at the fact that it had ended so smoothly.

“Oh my God, Danny, I _never_ want to do that again,” she declared as they made their way over to the locker rooms to change out of their scrubs. He let out a long breath and nodded.

“It’s definitely not high on my list, either,” he assured her. She glanced over at him and noted that while she was nowhere near looking her personal best, Danny was definitely the worse for wear, so drenched in sweat he looked as though he’d already _had_ a shower. Still, he managed a sincere smile as he caught her gaze.

“Thanks, Mindy. You were great in there, I really appreciate the help.” Mindy’s breath caught in her throat as they looked at each other, her eyes flicking over his sweaty, earnest face. Oh, shit. She did not need this, not now. She forced a smile and a voice slightly brighter than she felt.

“You’re welcome. Glad I could help.” She couldn’t think of anything else to say, though, so it was lucky they had arrived at the locker rooms.

“Ugh, I’m so gross,” Mindy said with a laugh. “Shower and meet you back here in like 20?” Danny nodded.

“Sounds good,” he agreed, casting a wry expression at his thoroughly disgusting scrubs. Mindy had a sudden vision of him pulling them off, of Danny covered in sweat for a completely different reason, and she sucked in a sharp breath. God, this was going to be awkward.

She stripped off her own scrubs rather unceremoniously and tossed them in the laundry before stepping into the shower and letting the hot water pour over her back and ease the tightness in her shoulders. Weird sexual feelings for Danny aside, the delivery _had_ been stressful and it was nice to indulge, at least a little, in something that felt good. She knew she couldn’t relax for long, though, so, regretfully, she lathered up and made some vague attempts at actually getting clean before getting out. Ordinarily she would change into clean scrubs to wear home, but with the electricity rationing that suddenly wasn’t an option. Her yoga pants and loose-fitting sweater weren’t nearly as comfortable, and unfortunately she would have to wash them herself later, but they were the best she could do.

As she stepped out into the building she could see Danny had had the same idea. He wore track pants and a long-sleeved T-shirt that looked just a little too good on him for her to feel completely comfortable bringing him home platonically.

“All set?” she asked, forcing her voice to sound chipper enough that he wouldn’t notice she was totally undressing him with her eyes. Ugh, she really needed to get laid.

“Yeah,” Danny nodded. “Thanks again for letting me stay with you, the past few days have been miserable.”

“It’s no problem,” she said cheerfully. “Although, again, I’m going to remind you I just moved, so no judgments, got it?”

“Got it.”

Clearly he _didn’t_ get it, though, because he gaped when she opened the front door and he laid eyes on the completely empty living room.

“Uh…Mindy?”

“I told you, Danny; I haven’t had time to buy much furniture since my live-in boyfriend decided he wanted to marry the Serbian bagel girl, remember?”

“Well, yeah, but when you said, ‘not much,’ I didn’t realize you meant ‘none.’”

“Actually, I have almost a complete bedroom set. I just…haven’t furnished any of the other rooms, because I have yet to spend any time in them. I swear, I thought it would get easier after residency was over but it really didn’t.” She sounded almost wistful at that, and Danny must’ve noticed because his face softened.

“It’ll calm down. You’re still transitioning into private practice, and that’s a big adjustment. You’re gonna be okay.” He paused. “A serious breakup doesn’t make that any easier.” She nodded a little as Danny patted her awkwardly on the back.

“But, uh, Mindy, I gotta ask…you don’t have a couch, where am I supposed to sleep?”

Shit. She clearly had not thought this plan through.

“Um…I think I have an air mattress from med school in here somewhere…” She trailed off, trying to remember what had happened to that old piece of – hmm. Maybe it wasn’t the kindest thing to offer her coworker. “You know what, the bed’s a queen and we’re both about ready to pass out. Just sleep on it with me.”

Danny raised an eyebrow suggestively.

“Shut _up_ Castellano, I’m just trying to be nice to my coworker who has no electricity or heat at his home and not force you to sleep on a six-year-old air mattress I bought back when I thought McDonald’s was a great restaurant to go to for a first date.” She paused. “Actually, you know what, I would love to go to McDonald’s on a first date. But that’s not the point, which is that even if I find my old air mattress, it’s pretty cheap and shitty, but I bought a really nice one for my bed.” 

“Plus, it’s already inflated,” he pointed out with a wry grin. “Serious points for that one. I wasn’t objecting, Mindy; I was just kind of surprised, but yeah, that’s fine.” She relaxed a little and smiled back.

“Okay, then, I, uh, I was really pissed at Tom when I moved out so there are lots of fresh toothbrushes and sample-sized toothpaste and dental floss in the medicine cabinet, help yourself. And, uh, the bedroom’s through here.” She led him into her room, surprisingly self-conscious suddenly once they were in the one room that she had furnished. Which was ridiculous: the bed, dresser, mirror, two nightstands, two lamps, and accent rug she’d chosen were all pretty awesome, and anyway, since when did she care about Danny Castellano’s opinion on her taste? He glanced around the room, anyway, nodded, and then put his bag down next to the closet.

“Sounds good. Thanks again, this is way better than my place right now.” She smiled a little and awkwardly began fishing through her dresser for a pair of pajamas that would say, “I am a fashionable, hot as hell woman,” but also _not_ say, “I am trying to seduce you.” It was a fine line, but she was pretty sure her extensive collection would deliver. Danny, meanwhile, excused himself to brush his teeth…and, now that she thought about it, probably to give her a little privacy while she changed into pajamas.

She finally made a choice and changed quickly, although in the end she needn’t have worried – Danny knocked politely before he came back into the room, minty-fresh and now pairing boxer shorts with his undershirt.

“Um, I’m done, if you wanna…” he said, slightly awkwardly, and Mindy nodded.

“Okay. Make yourself at home, I guess? Unless you sleep on the left side of the bed, that’s my side.” Danny smiled crookedly.

“I usually do, actually, but I can be flexible.” He padded over to his backpack and removed a paperback book as Mindy watched for a moment before remembering that she had to brush her teeth.

She peed, too, quickly and as quietly as she could, before brushing and flossing in the bathroom mirror, suddenly feeling a weird fluttering in her stomach that she didn’t dislike as much as she wanted to. _Danny Castellano_ , hot grump extraordinaire, was about to get into her bed. She never would’ve guessed it four years ago, and she still didn’t quite believe it now.

It was an emergency – genuine, FEMA-status emergency. He was her coworker and she cared about him even if they weren’t really friends. And they were both exhausted from too much time delivering too many babies without basic, standard twenty-first-century conveniences.

And the bed was big enough that she could probably get through the night without touching him.

He was sitting up against the headboard, lap tucked under the covers, his cell phone plugged in and resting on the nightstand when she came back into the room, and the picture was so domestic it made her heart ache a little. Not that she liked _Danny_ or anything like that; she just…well, she missed having a man in her bed, waiting for her. Even apart from the love or the sex or the…whatever…she sometimes thought that that was what she missed the most now that she and Tom were broken up: that feeling of coming back to bed and seeing him _there_ – it had always made her feel like she wasn’t alone. And this new, mostly unfurnished apartment had a tendency to make her feel _so_ alone.

And, okay, maybe she liked Danny a little.

“Hey,” she said, quietly, not wanting to startle him. He looked up from his book and huh, Mindy had never noticed before that Danny wore reading glasses.

“Hey,” he replied, a little awkwardly, scooting slightly closer to the edge of the bed as she walked over to the other side and flicked on the lamp, then padded back over to the door to turn off the overhead light.

“Do, uh…do you want me to turn out the light?” he asked, still awkward. Mindy shook her head and climbed into bed.

“Please. I can fall asleep anywhere, anytime, and sleep through anything. It hasn’t been _that_ long, Danny. I still have the amazing powers of a resident. What time do you want me to set the alarm for?”

“Uh, well…are you on call tomorrow?”

“No, are you?”

“No. I was gonna do a tubal for Jen Myers but obviously we’re rescheduling.”

“And since we have no electricity at the practice…”

“Set the alarm for whenever you want, Lahiri. We’ve got nowhere to be.”

“I dunno, Danny, don’t you think we should go into the hospital anyway?” Danny closed his book and took off his glasses.

“Mindy, we’re obstetrics and gynecology. The emergencies mostly aren’t for us, and we shouldn’t be short staffed tomorrow. I mean, leave your pager on and all, but honestly, I’m pretty sure we get to play hooky.”

“Not working,” she said in a theatrical, awestruck whisper. “That sounds amazing.” He chuckled lightly and put both book and glasses on the nightstand, turning off his lamp and sliding down into the bed.

“It does, doesn’t it? Mmm. You’re right; this mattress is great.”

“I’m glad you appreciate it,” she said lightly, setting the alarm for nine and turning out her own lamp before she lay down…next to Danny…

Oh boy.

“Good night,” she said, forcing herself to be cheerful despite the fact that she was suddenly wildly uncomfortable.

“Sweet dreams,” he replied politely, except it was a man’s drowsy murmur telling a girl to have sweet dreams. Mindy was pretty sure casual politeness was categorically impossible. This was _not_ gonna be easy.

\--

She woke up before Danny only to realize he was awkwardly (and romantically) draped around her. It was kind of nice being the little spoon, she reflected – it had been ages; Tom always liked her to be the big spoon – but it was comforting and made her feel dainty and oh. That, too.

It really wasn’t that weird. Of course Danny had a penis. She’d known that already. Well, she hadn’t really _known_ , but she’d strongly suspected, what with his being a man and all. And he was pressed pretty closely against her, so it wasn’t really that surprising that she could feel it. And a little bit of stiffness was to be expected; it was _her ass_ after all. It was just…Danny Castellano, her hot, weird, grumpy coworker…who apparently had a nice penis. And _God_ it had been a long time. Mindy wriggled slightly, suddenly more than hot and bothered. Danny moaned a little in his sleep and pulled her closer. Great, exactly what she didn’t need, Danny Castellano rising to full mast while pressed up against her in bed – and wait, umm, was he _grinding_ a little now? Oh, hell, no, this had to stop. She carefully started work on extracting herself from his embrace, only to find him suddenly startled awake.

“Mindy?” he mumbled groggily, and she wasn’t quite sure what to make of the fact that when he woke up with a little morning wood he already knew (or expected?) it to be her in bed with him.

“Good morning, Danny,” she said, burying whatever weird feelings she was having under the more comfortable perkiness she normally displayed in front of him. “Did you sleep well?”

“Mmm…yeah,” he answered. “Your apartment is warm.” He stretched his arms out a little and groaned slightly as his shoulders cracked. “And this is the best mattress I’ve ever slept on. Thanks again for letting me stay over.” Mindy furrowed her brow.

“You’re welcome, but considering you’re currently being more of a normal, non-grumpy human than I’ve ever seen before, I think it might be time for you to invest in a new bed and occasionally turning up your own thermostat. You know. Once the hurricane…aftermath…is over, and all.” Danny grinned slightly.

“I’ll take that under advisement.” He stretched again, arching his back slightly and then sinking comfortably back into the bed. “God, yesterday was rough.”

“I know,” she agreed, subtly shifting away from him. Danny, in a good mood, in her bed in the morning? Much too dangerous to be close to. “Being short-staffed is bad enough, but short-staffed without electricity is like some cruel sick internship game.”

“Worse,” he said, propping his pillow against the headboard so he could sit up against it. “At least back then you had a supervising attending to stop you before you killed someone.” Mindy sat up, too, and awkwardly patted his hand.

“Dramatic much? None of your patients died, Danny. They might’ve been less comfortable than they would have been, but they lived and their babies lived and they’re gonna be okay.” 

“I know…” he sighed. “So, what do you wanna do today?”

 _You_ was all she could think as he turned toward her, his crooked grin doing dangerous things to her insides.

“I don’t know about the rest of the day, but I definitely think we should have breakfast,” she declared, before faltering. “Do you, um, know how to make any kinds of breakfast foods?” Danny turned towards her and grinned some more.

“I can make all the breakfast foods…assuming you have more than Diet Coke in the fridge and takeout menus in the cupboards.” She made a face in reply.

“I’ll have you know I have…stuff. Actually, a pretty decent assortment, I think. Gwen – my best friend from college – dragged me to the grocery store when I moved in here to make sure I had all the staples, and I have, like, eggs and stuff.”

Danny nodded thoughtfully.

“Do you like pancakes?”

“What kind of question is that, Danny, of course I like pancakes!”

“Okay, I’ll make pancakes, then. As a thank you for letting me stay with you.” He clambered out of bed, and she swore she couldn’t help the way her eyes drifted down to his boxers, or the flush at the realization that they were still slightly tented. Danny caught her gaze and flushed himself, awkwardly turning away.

“Sorry,” he said quickly. “It’s just – something that happens. Sorry.”

Mindy shrugged. “Whatever,” she said with a nonchalance she did not feel. “Congratulations, you are a fully functional adult male. But more importantly, one of your functions is to make me pancakes.” She saw relief flood Danny’s face and was simultaneously proud of her deflection skills and a little sorry.

“Absolutely. Getting right to it.”

He made _chocolate chip_ pancakes, in fact – obviously a man after her heart, Mindy couldn’t help thinking, and then immediately berating herself for having thought. He also made coffee, which was especially surprising as, though Mindy owned two reasonably expensive coffeemakers, she herself had no idea how to use them and in fact had never opened the boxes. She still wasn’t sure where he’d gotten the coffee from, but she’d take it. Unfortunately, her failure, to date, to buy kitchen furniture meant that they were back in her bed, trying really hard not to spill anything on her sheets, but for “stranded during Sandy,” coffee and chocolate chip pancakes in bed wasn’t half bad.

“Mmm, Danny, you were right, this is amazing breakfast-food-making on your part. You have officially earned your keep as my very first houseguest.”

“I’m the first, eh?” he asked, and God, was Danny _teasing_ her?

“Well, in this apartment, anyway. Seriously, these are really good. How come I didn’t know you could cook?”

“Maybe because you never asked? But I dunno, I kind of think the bigger question is how come you _can’t_ cook? You’re a medical doctor. Following a recipe’s like an easy high school lab assignment.”

“I can cook, I guess. I mean, I’m not helpless. I can boil water and fry things and stuff. But…my mom doesn’t really know how to cook American food, so she never taught me. Gwen did her best in the common room of our freshman dorm, but Gwen’s not exactly a Michelin star chef herself.”

“So, your mom mostly cooks what, Indian food? Do you cook that?”

Mindy shrugged. “Kind of. I can make, like, medium-edible saag paneer. And if you give me a whole day and excuse the constant stream of f-bombs I can come up with a decent samosa. But Mom didn’t really teach me how to make Indian food either. She and Dad wanted me to be American,” she added, slightly wistfully. “Probably part of why I speak no Indian languages and my knowledge of the tenets of Hinduism could fit on an index card. They wanted me to fit in, you know?”

“Sure,” he said softly. A pause, and then – “I’m sorry, Mindy, I didn’t know that was a soft spot for you.” He was looking at her as if he’d never really seen her before, and it made her feel both a little anxious and slightly exhilarated at the same time. She shrugged once more.

“It is what it is. It’s not as if I’m in any danger of starving…and hey, maybe now that I have a little more vacation time I’ll ask Mom to teach me something new next time I’m up in Boston. She’d probably like that.”

“Is she a good cook? Your mom?”

Mindy nodded quickly. “She really is. Not that I appreciated it until I was living on my own, but…what about your mom, Danny?” she asked suddenly, having grown a little uncomfortable with the line of conversation and wanting to shift attention back to him. “Does she cook? Did she teach you to make pancakes, or was it your dad, or maybe your wife?” Danny stiffened slightly, and though Mindy was interested in his answer she couldn’t deny that his discomfort was slightly vindicating – let _him_ see how weird this conversation was getting.

“Yeah, it was Ma who taught me how to make pancakes,” he answered guardedly. “We used to make them Sunday mornings after church.”

“ _After_ church? Not before? You must’ve been starving!”

“You’re not supposed to eat before taking communion. Well, like, some people say just for the hour before, but Ma’s old school, and Nona’s even worse. And yeah, it’s kind of hard to concentrate on the homily when you haven’t eaten, but it made us tough.” He grinned slightly. “And it made the pancakes taste really good.”

“I bet! …but, like, you know how to cook other things, too. Did your mom teach you all of it?”

It was Danny’s turn to shrug now.

“The basics, yeah. Mostly I just used cookbooks and stuff and kind of…figured it out for myself. I, um, I did a lot of the cooking, actually, when I was in high school.”

“Really? Why?”

“Why does any high school kid do a lot of the cooking? Because Ma was a single mom with two kids and she worked two jobs to support us. I cooked, or we didn’t eat.” Mindy shrunk away from his sudden irritability, but then Danny sighed. “I mean, she wouldn’t have let us starve or anything. But if Richie – that’s my little brother – and I wanted to eat at a decent time, we couldn’t wait for her to get home.”

“I’m sorry, Danny, I didn’t realize,” Mindy said quietly.

“Your mom was a stay-at-home mom?”

She shook her head.

“No, well…not entirely. She was really involved in community theatre; it was a hobby that kind of verged on a career for her. I think it still is, honestly. But she was always able to be there whenever Rishi – that’s _my_ little brother, and it’s kind of weird that our brothers have names that are basically the same – or I needed anything.” She shrugged. “My dad’s a pharmacist and always made pretty good money, so she had the option. I think she would have liked to work full time, though. I’ve heard my aunt say she tried pretty hard to be an actress back when they lived in India.”

“An actress, huh?” grinned Danny, finishing his breakfast and placing his plate on his nightstand. “So that’s where you got all your crazy drama from.”

“I resent that, my drama is my own, thank you,” she replied, too cheerfully to be taken all that seriously, as she finished her own food. “Man, Danny, that was delicious. I need to figure out a way to convince you to move to my building so I can get you to make me pancakes every day.”

“You wouldn’t want them every day; then it wouldn’t be special,” he told her, but Mindy rolled her eyes.

“Bear claws are still special, despite being an almost-daily part of my life.” She paused before continuing, more quietly. “Tom was still special, right up until he broke up with me.”

“He really messed you up, didn’t he?” asked Danny softly. He clearly didn’t expect an answer, but Mindy provided one anyway by offering a short nod.

“We were together two years, Danny. Two years, in our late twenties, and we lived together, and he…married someone else, right away. It’s not even like he dated _her_ for a couple of years or anything. I was just passing his time until he met the girl he wanted to marry. Do you know how shitty that feels, that I was in love with someone who thought of me as a just-for-now girl?”

“No,” he replied honestly, “but I do know how it feels to walk in on your wife in bed with someone else, and that’s pretty shitty, so I think I can sympathize.” Mindy’s head whipped around, a look of shock on her face.

“Oh my God, Danny, _that’s_ why you’re divorced? I had no idea!”

“I don’t exactly publicize it,” he said with a slight shrug. “But, uh, yeah, that’s part of the reason.”

“Part of it? Danny, what reason do you need other than _you walked in on her with someone else_?”

He looked down a little before speaking. “She wouldn’t take me back?”

“Wait, she cheated on you _and_ she’s the one who left you? Danny, oh my God, no, that is not okay.”

“I loved her,” he mumbled, sounding painfully vulnerable. “We said it was forever, I wanted to be with her. I coulda probably gotten past the cheating, if she’d wanted to be with me.”

Mindy couldn’t help it then, and she turned around and slightly awkwardly put her arms around him. She almost started spewing her righteous indignation and anger at Danny’s _bitch_ of an ex-wife, but his face just looked too sad.

“I’m sorry,” she said quietly, hugging him tightly. He was tense for a moment before relaxing, a little, into her arms.

“I’m sorry about Tom,” he answered in a small voice, his hands sliding slightly to ghost over her waist. “He really should’ve treated you better.”

“Yeah, but I guess maybe if he could just leave and not look back like that, I should be glad he _didn’t_ want to marry me.” She paused for a moment, contemplating. “ _Why_ didn’t he want to marry me? He said he loved me, Danny. He didn’t mind any of the things about me that you hate, and he _loved_ me and we lived together. And then, whoops, I’m in my thirties now so I’m too old and he should marry the fucking _Serbian bagel girl_ instead.” She sniffled.

“We both got screwed,” Danny agreed dully. “It sucks.”

“This is shaping up to be not nearly as nice a morning as those pancakes indicated.”

“I could make you some scrambled eggs?”

“Did you just make a _joke_?”

“No! I mean, kind of, I guess. But I _could_ make you scrambled eggs, if you wanted. And, you know…I would. If you wanted.”

“Oh. Well, I’m full, thanks.” She carefully pulled away from his embrace and settled back against the headboard herself.

“So what should we do today, Castellano?”

“I have no idea, Lahiri. And I have to admit I’m a little bit shocked that _you_ of all people don’t own a television.”

Mindy sighed.

“I honestly haven’t had time. I should really just order one online but, seriously, Danny, you know how crazy it’s been at work – I’ve barely missed it. I catch the important shows in the doctors’ lounge and/or through some crafty online piracy and it’s almost like I have a TV in my house.” She paused. “I mean, not quite, and as soon as I feel equipped to carry one into this apartment by myself I will have one, but I don’t even have a couch yet. Danny. You had to _sleep in my bed with me_ because I don’t have a couch. I am really not prepared for a hooky situation.” He frowned and furrowed his brow slightly.

“Do you have…I don’t know…board games? Playing cards?”

Mindy brightened. “No, and no – Tom somehow managed to win custody of Apples to Apples in our breakup, which I still maintain was highly unfair, and I might have destroyed my Kardashian playing cards in a fit of anger when Kim and Kris Humphries split up – but I do have a pretty extensive collection of books and magazines in a box in the storage closet, and you have the book you were reading yesterday, right?”

“So you want to read in bed all day.”

“Look, Danny, I realize it’s hard to imagine me as that kind of girl, given how stunningly beautiful and stylish and awesome I am now, but we are both medical doctors. It’s pretty much a given that this will not be the first time we’ve lain in bed, reading, all day.” She shrugged, scrambling out of bed in search of the closet. “Besides, I want to finish up _The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet’s Nest_.”

“That’s what you’re reading?” Danny asked, eyebrows arched almost in a challenge. “I had you pegged for that gray book, what was it, with the bondage and the steel?”

“How dare you, Danny. I know you meant that in a judgmental way, and I would just like to remind you that I did graduate from an accredited college.”

“Sorry, sorry. You’re a smart girl, and I know that. I just remember you liked those _Twilight_ books…”

“Again with the judging! Robert Ludlum’s ghostwriter isn’t exactly a creator of high art, Castellano. And there’s nothing wrong with a little light reading, even if it is meant for preteen girls.” Mindy dug the book she wanted out of a large cardboard box and returned, victorious, to the bedroom.

“This is actually kind of cozy,” she remarked after they’d read in silence for approximately twenty seconds. “You know, it’s awful weather outside, but we’re nice and warm and reading books in bed inside. We should really have hot chocolate, Danny, do you know how to make hot chocolate?” He sighed and laid his book in his lap.

“I do know how to make hot chocolate. Do you know how to read quietly?”

“Don’t be mean, I just thought it would be nice, but whatever, we can read without hot chocolate, it’s fine.” He considered for a moment.

“No, you’re right. It might not exactly be the healthiest choice, but hot chocolate sounds really good right now. But, Mindy, do you even have the stuff for that?”

“I have a box of Nesquik,” she offered, knowing as the words left her mouth what his reaction would be.

“No. No, absolutely not. Well…I guess we could use the leftover chocolate chips from the pancakes…that could maybe work.”

“It will totally work! I _knew_ I had the stuff for it!”

“Of course you did. C’mon, let’s go make hot chocolate.” Danny swung his legs out of the bed and headed over to the kitchen, Mindy bouncing happily behind him.

“This is so awesome,” she enthused as he opened her cabinets, gathering the necessary components and tools as she looked on.

“Okay, so since we’re working with chocolate chips already, the first thing we’re gonna need is a saucepan, for melting the chocolate...”

“Danny, I appreciate that you’re trying to educate me, but let’s be real here: I’m never going to make this stuff on my own. Not even gonna try; it’s gonna be Nesquik all the way. You know this; I know this…so you don’t need to tell me what you’re doing. I’ll just believe it’s magic.” Danny shook his head.

“I will _never_ understand you,” he pronounced, but somehow it seemed much kinder than she would have anticipated.

Mindy sat on the counter while he carefully heated and mixed and stirred, breathing deeply as the smell of melting chocolate began to fill her apartment. It was just as cozy as she’d imagined, and they weren’t even drinking the cocoa yet, let alone in bed with their books.

In bed. With Danny Castellano.

Danny Castellano, who had just turned to her with a disarmingly warm smile, offering her a spoonful of the delicious-smelling mixture currently over the stove. Mindy opened her mouth obediently.

“Mmm,” she moaned softly. “That’s amazing. Seriously, Danny, that is so good. I don’t think I’ve ever even tasted better.”

“Mindy,” he said hoarsely as he put the spoon back down on the counter. She swallowed anxiously and looked him in the face.

“What is it?” she asked. He didn’t say anything but suddenly his lips were on hers and she could hardly breathe. She clung to him, still not quite sure what was happening but not wanting to let go of what _had_ to be a dream. When he finally pulled away she nearly pinched herself but managed to be content with gazing at him, dumbfounded.

“I’m sorry,” he said almost immediately. “I…I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have done that. I’m sorry.” Mindy shook her head.

“Don’t be,” she said firmly, reaching up to wrap her arms around his neck and pull him eagerly back down to kiss her some more. Somewhere deep in the back of her brain she realized he’d just turned the stove off, but her focus was on his lips, and his teeth, and his tongue, and the weight of his body against hers, and how quickly she could get him back to the bedroom. That last one turned out to be a non-issue when he grabbed her ass firmly and lifted her, encouraging her to wrap her legs around his waist so that he could carry her to bed, which he managed to do without breaking their kiss, and really, that was a skill worthy of his resume, or at least his LinkedIn.

Then they were on the bed, and it was perfect and unbelievable and – she was kissing _Danny Castellano_ , and somehow it felt like exactly what _should_ be happening, and he moaned into her mouth and pressed himself tightly against her, and holy shit she was about to have _sex_ with _Danny_ …

“Wait, Danny, stop,” she gasped, reluctantly. He pulled his mouth away from hers in a bit of a haze.

“What is it?” he asked breathlessly. “Do – do you not want to do this…anymore?” _Did you not want to do this at all?_ , his face said plainly.

“No, I do, I do,” she reassured him. “ _God_ , I do. It’s just…well…Tom and I just broke up, and I haven’t…and I just moved…and…”

“And what?” Danny asked bluntly, confused. “I knew that already. It’s okay if you’re…I mean, I’m okay with whatever it is you’re looking for right now.” Mindy flushed.

“It’s not that. It’s just that I haven’t had sex since Tom, and he and I were in a relationship for two years, and I don’t have any condoms in the place.”

“Oh…oh,” he said, relief rushing over him in waves. “Oh, okay, that we can deal with.”

“It’s a middle of a natural disaster, Danny! Half the convenience stores don’t have power, and a lot of the ones that do are only taking cash, and I’m sorry but you are _not_ getting me pregnant, or, or _syphilis_ or – ”

“Shhh. I mean, we can deal with it because I have a couple of condoms in my bag. And I don’t have syphilis.”

“You brought _condoms_ to my place?! Presumptuous much?” He couldn’t help snickering slightly at her outrage considering she was currently mostly naked underneath him.

“No; they’re just…in my bag, and I brought my bag to your place. Calm down.”

“God, Danny, how many randos are you banging that you need to keep condoms in your bag? Are you sure you don’t have syphilis?”

“I’m sure, and I don’t, uh…bang randos. I just don’t like to be caught off-guard, you know?” He sighed. “You know what, forget it. Maybe you’re right; maybe we should stop.”

“What? No! Ugh, come on, Danny, don’t be such a cock-tease.”

“A – wait, what? You don’t _have_ a cock; _I’m_ the one with the – ”

“It is an _expression_ , Danny,” she said, exasperated, and she rolled them over, squirming, until her whole body was stretched out across his and her lips were pressed against his neck. “Look, I didn’t mean to insinuate that you were any less…discerning…about your sexual partners than I am about mine, and I’m glad you have condoms because I definitely want to fuck you, okay?” He took a deep breath, shuddering at the slight movement of her hips.

“Yeah. Okay. Sorry,” he managed. “I, uh…I wanna fuck you, too. Like…really wanna.” She smiled down at him.

“You do?” The vulnerability in Mindy’s voice caught him by surprise, and he nodded.

“Are you kidding? Do you have any idea how long I’ve wanted you?”

“Wait, what?”

Danny nodded again, flushing a little.

“I guess not, then. Look, I, uh…I mean, I’m not sure now is the right time to get into this, but…you’re beautiful, Mindy, and I’ve always kind of…I don’t know, I’ve always kind of had a thing for you.” Her face broke into a huge, surprisingly sweet smile at that, and Danny felt his heart clench a little at the sight.

“I’ve always kind of had a thing for you, too,” she admitted, looking down at him with honest affection in her eyes.

“Oh,” he said softly, and her gaze went shy.

“Yeah, well…um. You said you had condoms in your bag?” He nodded, blinking quickly, trying to get back to where they’d been – _about to have sex_ – and away from whatever weird emotions were threatening to take over. Mindy carefully climbed off him and scrambled over to the corner of the bedroom, where he’d left his backpack.

“Front pocket,” he told her, and she reached in and pulled out a strip of condoms.

“Found ‘em,” she answered with a smile, coming back over to him on the bed. “Where were we?” He offered her a lazy grin in return.

“I was in your bed, and you were on top of me?”

She smirked.

“Right.” She tore a packet off the strip, set the rest aside, and climbed back on top of him, carefully settling her hips against him in a way that had him involuntarily thrusting up against her.

“Oh, fuck, Min,” he gasped.

“Danny, this isn’t fucking; it’s _barely_ foreplay. And don’t think I didn’t notice you just called me, ‘Min.’” She punctuated her words with a quick but deliberate roll of her hips, and he moaned.

“I’ll call you whatever you want if you’ll do that again.”

Mindy grinned lasciviously and leaned in closer, pressing her lips to his neck and starting in on what promised to be a nice, embarrassing hickey. Danny closed his eyes and moaned some more, and Mindy hadn’t pegged him as someone who’d be this loud in bed but in this case she was happy to be proven wrong.

“Wait,” he managed suddenly, pushing gently against her shoulders. Mindy pulled back obediently, puzzled.

“I thought we got past all the waiting,” she said quizzically. “Oh – did you want me to put on the…” She gestured at the condom packet, but Danny furiously shook his head and carefully rolled her over onto her back, sliding slowly down her body in the process. His thumbs caught the edges of her panties, and when she inhaled sharply he looked up at her.

“Is this okay?”

Mindy nodded, a little breathless.

“Yeah, it’s – I mean, you don’t have to – but yeah, you can.” Danny nodded briefly in return before lowering his face to her tummy again and placing a row of kisses from one hipbone to the other, so light they almost tickled and she squirmed.

“Danny!” she half-giggled, and he looked up again to smile at her as he carefully tugged her panties down. She managed to hold back a wince as she apologized.

“For what?”

“I, um…well, I stopped getting bikini waxes when Tom and I…” Danny rolled his eyes.

“C’mon, Min, you know I’m a gynecologist – and so are you, which means you know those things aren’t good for you. The skin is too thin; it – “

“Okay, Danny, you can eat me out or you can come back up here and kiss me, I don’t even care, but you have to stop talking because you’re seriously killing the mood.”

“Fine, fine…look, Mindy, you’re gorgeous, okay? Head to toe,” he emphasized, looking her up and down and then pressing another kiss against her pelvis, directly between her hips, and suddenly it didn’t tickle anymore.

His mouth was hot and wet and strong and agile and holy shit, Mindy had not been prepared for _that_ to go this well, this soon. All her muscles were taut as she arched herself into his face and it would’ve been embarrassing if she’d had the capacity to experience anything beyond wanting. Hazily she thought that she wanted him to stop, wanted him to be inside her, but she couldn’t quite find her voice and then it didn’t matter because she was clenching and shuddering and coming on his tongue.

“Fuck,” she moaned as he brought her down. He smiled at her, his face slightly tense, his pupils hugely dilated as he moved his way up her body and pressed himself against her, letting her feel how ready he was. She reached for him eagerly, wrapping her arms around his neck and pulling him close to kiss her until they were both gasping for breath.

“I don’t care if you put it on yourself or if you want me to do it, but you have to put it in me soon, Danny, please.” He groaned and his eyes fluttered shut for a moment before he reached for the condom, tore open the package, and rolled it on. Catholic or not he’d clearly done that more than a few times, and it was a good thing, Mindy decided, because he could do it while spending the whole time looking straight at her. She nodded at him in encouragement and slowly – too slowly – so slowly she could hardly stand it – he eased himself inside, looking at her the whole time in a way that made her feel even more naked.

He moaned as her PC muscles squeezed him involuntarily, and the sound shocked Mindy into action, her hands moving along his back to grasp his shoulders, her legs winding their way around his waist, her lips making their way over to his neck to work on the hickey she’d started earlier. She held him close as he fucked her, simultaneously wanting to savor the feeling of him moving within her and to make him come as hard and as quickly as possible. The furious, verging on arrhythmic movements of his hips made her decision for her and so she urged him on, scraping her nails through his hair and moving her lips over his neck, his jaw, his ear.

“Mindy…” he gasped as she took him by surprise and sucked, hard, “fuck, Mindy, I’m…”

“Uh huh,” she moaned into his ear. “Come on, Danny, fuck me, do it.” He sped up, losing control as he thrust into her again and again, finally coming with a shout that turned into a deep, satisfied groan as he collapsed on top of her.

“Holy shit,” he mumbled, reluctantly pulling out and rolling over to lie beside her. “Sorry about that, I…got a little carried away…” Mindy laughed, a real, joyous laugh for the first time in an embarrassingly long time.

“You are so weird, Danny Castellano. Is that a Catholic thing, apologizing to girls after sex? For, like, corrupting their innocence or whatever?” Danny shook his head.

“What? No, I mean – I should’ve – you didn’t…right?”

“Huh? Oh. No, but, like, I did before. You don’t have to apologize because I didn’t, again. You’re not my vibrator. Besides, it was fun.”

“It was, wasn’t it?”

“Mmm-hmm, that was some good sex, my friend.” She sighed hugely. “It might even make up for how awkward this is going to be.”

“Awkward?”

“You and me, working at the same practice, now as two people who have had sex with each other…and who maybe might again?”

“Hey, we’re alone in an apartment where the only furniture is a bed, I’m for it if you are.”

“Right, exactly, but it’s still a little weird, right? I mean, if it were Jeremy it would kind of make sense, he and I have always been friends. But before you came over yesterday, when’s the last time you and I hung out outside of work?”

“Um…residency?” he offered, scrunching his brow in thought. “I think maybe we all went out for happy hour or something?”

“Sure, and you hung out with your class and I hung out with mine – not to mention you were _married_ then. So it’s weird that suddenly we’re having sex when we barely know anything about each other except that when a baby decides he wants to come out butt-first, you think of me.”

“We could, you know…hang out more. Get to know each other better. If you wanted.”

“Are you asking me to _date_ you?” He flushed a little.

“I mean…would there be a problem, if I was? You’re single; I’m single…we’re the same age…”

“Um, that is a lie, but go on…”

“We have at least one interest in common, and hey we made a pretty good team yesterday…and we’re attracted to each other, and have been for a long time. Is there any reason we _shouldn’t_ date?”

“Other than the obvious one – you know, that _we work together_?”

“We can talk to Marc about it, but I’m sure it’ll be fine.” Mindy thought he was kind of missing the point, but then she took a moment to look closely at Danny’s face. He was as earnest as she’d ever seen him, and it suddenly took her breath away.

“Danny…you really want this, don’t you?” Danny nodded.

“Mindy, I…” He sighed. “There’s no way to say this without sounding like I’m sixteen, but I really like you. And yes, I do want to date you, and honestly I have since even before you broke up with Tom.” He cracked a slight smile, but she could see he was really nervous and it kinda broke her heart a little. “Besides, you gotta give me a chance to do better than that.”

“Stop it, you were fine.”

“I can do better.” She couldn’t help shivering at that, because she believed him. Taking a deep breath, she nodded her head slightly.

“Okay. We can…we can date. Except you should be warned that if it ends badly, I’m holding you one hundred percent responsible.”

“I would expect nothing less.”

“So…that’s it, then? We’re a couple?”

“We’re a couple,” he agreed, earning himself a wide, toothy smile from his new girlfriend as she curled up against him, wanting to snuggle. He responded happily and folded her into his arms, not quite sure he believed what just happened and wanting to cling to her, just in case.

“Mmm…Danny?” Her words were barely more than warm breath on his neck.

“What is it?”

“Do you know how to make dinner things, too?”


End file.
